Monday, September 29, 2014

“I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where
I've been.”

-- Billie Holiday

From 2007-2008 through 2009-2010 there was no more dangerous
offensive defenseman in the National Hockey League than the Washington
Capitals’ Mike Green. Over those three seasons he led all NHL defensemen in a
number of offensive categories, some by a wide margin:

Total goals: 68 (Shea Weber was second with 45)

Goals per game: 0.30 (Zdeno Chara: 0.18)

Total points: 205 (Nicklas Lidstrom: 178)

Points per game: 0.91 (Sergei Gonchar: 0.81)

Even strength goals: 31 (Duncan Keith: 25)

Power play goals: 36 (Mark Streit: 26)

Game winning goals: 12 (Andy Greene: 11)

Shots on goal: 682 (Chara: 665)

Shots per game: 3.03 (Chara: 2.81)

Shooting percentage: 10.0 percent (Andrei Markov: 8.6
percent)

It is amazing enough that Green led in so many categories
over those three years, but what is just as amazing is that there is no clear
“second best.” The second highest totals in that list are spread over eight
different defensemen. Green, for those three years, with a 68-137-205, plus-69
scoring line, was a dominant offensive force from the blue line.

Then came the injuries and the coaching changes. Over the
next three seasons Green played in only 116 of 212 games and had a total
scoring line of 23-34-57, plus-8. The injuries – upper body, concussion, ankle,
groin, concussion again – took away too many games. The parade of coaches –
Bruce Boudreau, Dale Hunter, and Adam Oates – made for too many changes in
style that was an especially important factor for a player who controlled a
great deal of play with breakouts and passing. He did, however, have a
productive year in Oates’ first year behind the Caps’ bench, going 12-14-26 in
35 games. His 0.74 points per game was sixth among all defensemen in the
league.

Last season Green made another tentative step back toward
something approaching his best years. In 70 games he went 9-29-38, his highest
point total since the 2009-2010 season (19-57-76 in 75 games). Even though his
points per game (0.54) slipped to 24th in the league, the 70 games played was
the most he played since that 2009-2010 season. As it is, since Mike Green’s
first big season in 2007-2008, he is the only defenseman in the league to
record 100 goals and 300 points.

Fearless’ Take…

As it is, through all the injuries Mike Green still led the
Caps’ defensemen in scoring in five of the last seven seasons and was second
once. He is one of only four defensemen in franchise history to score at least
100 goals with the club (103), and he has done so playing in at least 151 fewer
games than the other three. He should pass Calle Johansson (113) for third
place on the list this season. He is sixth on the franchise list in points by a
defenseman (315) and could pass Larry Murphy (344) for fifth place this season.Green is not only the dean of the defense at
this point in his career (longest in terms of service), he is the most among
the most accomplished in the history of the franchise.

One thing that might help with respect to Green’s
consistency.Get him a regular
partner.Over the last four seasons he
has spent the most 5-on-5 ice time with four different partners (in percentage
of ice time):

2010-2012: Jeff Schultz (60.2)

2012-2013: Roman Hamrlik (53.1)

2012-2013: Karl Alzner (77.9)

2013-2014: Dmitry Orlov (40.9)

With two new kids on the block and a new coach evaluating
everyone on a fresh canvas, Green might yet have a fifth most-frequent partner.

Cheerless’ Take…

OK, cuz, try this on. The Caps were 30-27-13 in the 70 games
in which Green played, 8-3-1 in the games he missed. You wonder if there isn’t
a changing of the guard going on here. John Carlson had more average ice time
overall (24:30 to 22:43), more average power play ice time (3:08 to 2:45), more
goals (10 to 9), and more power play goals (5 to 3). Carlson had 22 power play
points to Green’s 15. And, Green seemed to fade late. He was 8-27-35, minus-11
in his first 55 games, a 12-40-52 scoring pace over 82 games. In his last 15
games of the season he was 1-2-3, minus-5, a 5-11-16 scoring pace and a pace
for a minus-27 over 82 games.

The Big Question… Is Mike Green destined to remain a
Capital?

Mike Green is in his contract year, winding up a three-year
deal paying him $6,083,333 a year. With $20.0 million in salary cap space
committed to five defensemen in 2015-2016 it seems unlikely that the Caps would
be able, even if they were inclined, to accommodate an extension at that
salary, let alone a raise. Green’s injury history makes any such investment
quite risky as he approaches his 30th birthday (he will turn 30 on about
Opening Night of the 2015-2016 season).

If Green was to put up big numbers for the Caps this season,
it would complicate things even further. Bigger numbers, more suitors in free
agency, the potential for an even bigger payday. As it is, Green has the 11th
largest cap hit among defensemen in the league. His comparables by age (26-30)
and by caps hit ($5.5-6.5 million) would include:

Brent Seabrook (29 years old/$5.8M cap hit)

Brent Burns (29/$5.76M)

Tobias Enstrom (29/$5.75M)

Matt Niskanen (27/$5.75M)

James Wisniewski (30/$5.5M)

Matt Carle (30/$5.5M)

Dan Girardi (30/$5.5M).

In terms of roster and cap management, the question might be
how Green gets slotted and for how long a term.The Caps have three defensemen – Carlson, Orpik, and Niskanen – signed through
2017-2018.The Caps will presumably want
to sign Alzner, whose contract expires after the 2016-2017 season to grant him unrestricted
free agent status.Where does Mike Green
fit in this puzzle?Four-and-24 (to use
round numbers)? That would be about $25
million tied up in five defensemen, a substantial share of the salary cap.Corsi, Fenwick, and zone starts are not the
only numbers that will bear watching this season.

In the end…

Mike Green was part of that first “rebuild” draft class in
2004, the one that included Alex Ovechkin and Jeff Schultz. More than any home-grown
player since then, he has seen everything from a Calder Cup championship in
2006 as a prospect in Hershey to sharing time with some poor Caps teams in the
early years out of the 2004-2005 lockout to the team’s return to
competitiveness to a Presidents Trophy to the current unsettled state of
affairs with the club.

Over the last 15 seasons no defenseman for the Washington
Capitals has logged more total ice time than Mike Green, more than 11,000
minutes worth. It might be true that he will never fully return to those three
amazing seasons that made him the best offensive defenseman of the period.
Still, a return to health could provide the opportunity to make him a threat
once more. Whether he can put together another 1,500 or so minutes in 2014-2015
will go a long way to determining whether the Capitals can make a comeback to
the post-season, whether Green can make a comeback to a level of play approaching what
the Caps enjoyed a few years ago, and whether he can come back to the club past
this season.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Since John Erskine joined the Washington Capitals as a free
agent in September 2006, only 12 NHL defensemen have logged more penalty
minutes.The thing is, though, Erskine
compiled his 529 penalty minutes in only 350 games, while 11 of the 12
defensemen in front of him on that list did it in more than 400 games, six of
them in more than 500 games.

That statistic speaks to the hard way that John Erskine
makes a living, something that deserves more respect that it sometimes gets
from fans.He is the closest player –
perhaps the only player – resembling a physical defenseman the Caps have had since he
arrived.Consider the list of Capitals
defensemen who have played in at least 100 games with the club since Erskine
arrived:

Mike Green

Jeff Schultz

Karl Alzner

John Carlson

Shaone Morrisonn

Tom Poti

Milan Jurcina

Brian Pothier

Dmitry Orlov

There are not many defensemen with the adjective “physical”
attached to them on that list.Here is another
way to look at it.Erskine has been
involved in 29 regular season fights in a Capitals uniform.The other eight defensemen on that list above
were involved in a combined seven fights in their tenures with Washington.If the Discovery Channel ever brings back
“Dirty Jobs,” John Erskine could host it in place of Mike Rowe.

Unfortunately, doing the dirty work has come at a price for
Erskine.Of the 622 regular season games
that could have been played in Erskine’s eight seasons in Washington, he has
appeared in only 350 of them, just 56 percent of the total number of
games.Only once – in 2010-2011 when he
appeared in 73 games – has Erskine played in more than 52 games in a season
with the Caps.The injuries that
accumulated over those eight seasons – foot, thumb, lower body, upper body,
concussion, leg, hand, shoulder, knee – have peeled off a lot of games from
those in which Erskine might have appeared.

Fearless’ Take…

For all the abuse John Erskine has taken physically over his
eight seasons in Washington, he is 14th on the list of games played
as a defenseman with the franchise, and it is possible that he passes both Shoane Morrisonn and
Rick Green (tied with 377 games apiece) this season.That experience might not be as big an issue
with the addition of Brooks Orpik (703 regular season games) and Matt Niskanen
(491 games), but experience can only be earned, and there are young Caps
defensemen who are still building on that.It might require careful management, but Erskine’s experience (not to
mention his ability to be a physical presence) can have its place.

Cheerless’ Take…

Cuz, there just isn’t any way to sugar coat this.The Caps were 13-17-7 in games in which John
Erskine appeared last season, 25-13-7 in games he sat out.What do those fancy stat guys say, “constipation is not causation?”

(Peerless… “correlation is not causation”)

Yeah, that.But
still.That should be an alarm going off
when you consider that the Caps were 21-7-2 with Erskine in the lineup in
2012-2013, 6-11-1 without him, and that was with the same coaching staff
(whatever you think of it).

The Big Question… Does John Erskine have a role to play in
2014-2015?

The Caps went out and got two free agent defensemen precisely
because of the lack of depth in talent on the blue line in recent years.While John Erskine is a high-effort player,
there is a reasonable question about his being capable, at this point in his
career, of being a 16-minute a night player on a contender (he averaged 15:51 a
game over his first eight seasons with the Caps).

He is going to have a hard time cracking the 2014-2015 lineup unless there are injuries or one of the top six (Alzner, Carlson, Green,
Niskanen, Orpik, and Orlov) simply goes into the dumper in terms of his
performance.He seems relatively safe to
start the season with Orlov still recuperating from a broken arm suffered
during last spring’s world championship that could delay his return to the
lineup.There does seem to be a
bulls-eye on Erskine with respect to his continued presence on the roster,
though.

In the end…

John Erskine has been nothing less than a stand-up guy on a
team that did not have much of a physical presence over his eight seasons with
the club.But the physical abuse has taken
a toll.He appeared in only 95 of 212
games over the last three seasons, only 37 of 82 contests last season.With the additions of Matt Niskanen and
Brooks Orpik for the defense, the Caps do not have a lot of spare minutes on
the blue line into which Erskine can be slotted on a regular basis. Orpik, who
can provide the physical style of play (within the rules) that Erskine might
have provided, has been more durable a player than Erskine, despite being the
same age (34).

As far as the physical style of play at the edge of the
rules, there were rumblings of the Caps seeking to move Erskine’s contract so
that the club could sign Paul Bissonnette, a move that might have save the team
a considerable amount from Erskine’s $1,962,500 salary cap hit.What it probably means is that Erskine is now
on the edge of the roster, a 7/8 defenseman on this club.If the Caps carry only seven defensemen, it
would seem he will be in a battle with Jack Hillen for that seventh spot,
especially now that Cameron Schilling (a prospect defenseman who is not
waiver-exempt) was sent down to Hershey, pending his clearing waivers.

For eight years John Erskine has been a player who as much
of more than any other Caps defenseman found himself in serious circumstances
on the ice that required the exercise of his physical gifts and
temperament.The roster log jam is a
different sort of circumstance in which he finds himself, one that is no less
serious.

John Carlson had some cleaning up to do in 2013-2014.Mainly in his own end.Only eight defensemen were on ice for more
goals in 2012-2013 than Carlson (61), and no defenseman was on ice for more
power play goals against (28).With
regard to the latter, it wasn’t close.The New York Rangers’ Dan Girardi was on ice for 22 power play goals
against in second place.Of 147
defensemen playing at least 500 5-on-5 minutes in 2012-2013, Carlson was 96th
highest in goals against/on-ice per 20 minutes.

So, how did he improve in 2013-2014?Carlson was on ice for the 11th
highest number of goals against among defensemen (95) and was on ice for the
second highest number of power play goals against (33).Of 200 defensemen playing at least 500 5-on-5 minutes, he was 82nd highest in goals against/on-ice per 20 minutes.

Carlson was something of a bellweather in terms of his
performance numbers.He did not have a
wide spread in his scoring numbers between wins and losses.He was 7-16-23 in 38 wins, 3-11-14 in 42
regulation and extra time losses.But he
did have a wide spread in his plus-minus numbers.It was in the losses that the numbers told
something of a tale.Carlson was
minus-22 in those losses and was a plus player in only six of them.That is merely another angle from which you
can see his playing time (almost 18 minutes a game at even strength) and those
high goals against on ice totals.

Another thing about the ice time.Carlson spent 72 percent of his 5-on-5 ice time last season paired with Karl Alzner.
That was a return to normalcy of a sort.He spent only 9.9 percent of his time at 5-on-5 with Alzner in
2012-2013, that after spending 65.6 percent of his time with Alzner in
2011-2012 and 77.4 percent of his time with him in 2010-2011.

Fearless’ Take…

John Carlson tied for the team lead in games played (82),
led the team’s defensemen in goals (10), was second in assists (27), was second
in points (37), and led the team’s defensemen in shots (208), power play goals
(5), power play points (22), and average time on ice (24:30).Over his four full seasons in the league only
three full-time defensemen have more even strength goals than Carlson (22):
Karlsson, Shea Weber, and Keith Yandle.

And that whole goals scored on-ice thing that Peerless was
yammering on about.Carlson also
happened to be on ice for the 11thhighest number of total goals among defensemen and was tied with Erik
Karlsson for fifth overall in power play goals for/on-ice.He was also tied for eighth overall in power
play points scored.

Carlson was the go-to defenseman for special teams last
season.There were 195 defensemen last
season who appeared in at least 40 games.Of that group only three – Philadelphia’s Kimmo Timonen, Detroit’s
Niklas Kronwall, and Carlson – averaged at least three minutes of power play
time and three minutes of shorthanded ice time per game.Carlson averaged slightly more total average
special teams ice time (6:52) than the other two (6:49 for Timonen, 6:25 for
Kronwall).

Cheerless’ Take…

The possession numbers at 5-on-5 could have been
better.Carlson’s Corsi-for percentage
(47.0) was 158th of 200 defensemen playing at least 500 5-on-5
minutes last season.His Corsi-for percentage weighted for his teammates was not much better (48.0 percent), 150th
among that group of defensemen. Carlson also had his issues against divisional
opponents.Outside the Metropolitan
Division he was 7-22-29, plus-5 in 57 games.In 25 games within the Metro, he was 3-5-8, minus-8.

The Big Question… Is this John Carlson’s year to step up and
step out as a top NHL defenseman?

Maybe it is having played in Washington for five seasons
where the attention, to the extent it exists for the hockey team, is generally
centered on the trials and tribulations (and the goals) of Alex Ovechkin.Maybe
it is because the Capitals have not won as much as other teams, but John
Carlson does not get much in the way of media attention, at least not as much
as a top-shelf NHL defenseman might get.That’s not to say that Carlson is an also-ran defenseman.Hardly, but for a guy who was a first round
draft pick, who has a world junior championship, who has two Calder Cup
championships, who was a first team defenseman on the 2011 All-Rookie Team, and
who had the most votes of any rookie defensemen for the Calder Trophy in 2011, the media spotlight does not often shine on him.

That could change.Carlson has been playing a gradually expending role with the Caps since
he entered the league late in the 2009-2010 season.He is a man for all situations and has
cemented himself as a core component of the Capitals for the foreseeable
future.While we have commented on his
partner Karl Alzner’s consistency, Carlson has shown a certain consistency of
his own.His points per game over his
first four full seasons with Washington fall in a tight range: 0.45/game in
2010-2011, followed by seasons of 0.39, 0.46, and 0.45.Carlson compiled this resume not having
reached his 25th birthday (he will turn 25 in January).

Now, it is time to take the next step.Carlson might particularly benefit from
having coaches experienced in developing defensemen behind the bench this
season.Barry Trotz and Todd Reirden
might be able to tap the next vein of talent in Carlson’s repertoire in a way
Adam Oates and Calle Johansson could not over the past two seasons.

In the end…

John Carlson has been a rock for the Capitals over the past
four seasons.He has had bouts with
inconsistency in his own end, but that might be explained away by
his youth and the development curve for defensemen.He still has just 316 games on his NHL
resume.And even though that number is sixth
among defensemen of his 2008 draft class (behind Zach Bogosian, Tyler Myers, Drew
Doughty, Luke Schenn, and Michael Del Zotto), it is not a high volume for a
position with a long developmental curve.

With the Caps improving their depth on the blue line this
past summer, some of the heat might be taken off Carlson to carry as heavy an all-situation
load as he did last season.In that
respect it is an opportunity for Carlson to substitute higher quality of play
for logging heavy minutes or in having to face opponents’ top competition as
part of shutdown pair in addition to his responsibilities to carry an offensive
load.

Cheerless noted that Carlson had
rather ordinary numbers against Metropolitan Division opponents. Here is another way to look at his performance.He was 4-12-16, minus-4 in 28 games against
the eight teams in the Eastern Conference that reached the playoffs last
season.If you take out his performance
against the Philadelphia Flyers, against whom he struggled (0-0-0, minus-6), he
was 4-12-16, plus-2 against the other seven teams over 24 games, a respectable
level of performance against stiffer competition.John Carlson is poised to take the next step
forward in his developmental arc.It is
time for his close-up.

Karl Alzner might not be the most constant defenseman in the
National Hockey League, but he resides in close proximity.Over the last four seasons Alzner has
appeared in every game, one of only four defensemen to do so.He has been a constant, if modest, in his offensive
production, scoring one or two goals in each of those four seasons, averaging
between 0.15 and 0.22 points per game in the three full 82-game seasons in that
span.His penalty minutes per game
ranged from 0.29 to 0.32.His time on
ice per game has ranged from 20:01 to 20:57 over the past four seasons.

On defense, Alzner has expressed a similarly constant nature
to his game.Over the last three seasons
he has been on ice for 80, 55, and 85 total goals against; 30, 18, and 30 power
play goals against.That makes for a
very consistent goals-against on ice per game.

That’s on the surface.In 2013-2014 Alzner had a bit of an odd season.For long stretches he played with the
consistency to which Caps fans have become accustomed.However, there were two blocks of games last
year in which he played in something of a funk.There was a three-week span to start December in which over nine games
he was 1-1-2, minus-11.Oddly enough,
the Caps were 5-2-2 in those games.

Then there was another nine-game stretch, this one coming
from mid-March through April 1st in which Alzner was 0-2-2, minus-4,
a minus player in six of those games.The Caps were 4-2-3 in those games.Odd that in what might have been
Alzner’s worst games of the season in terms of his own performance numbers, the
Caps would go 9-4-5.

Fearless’ Take…

Last year at this time, Peerless pointed out that Alzner
drew tough assignments in 2012-2013 based on the 5-on-5 ice time he logged
against individual opponents.
That was certainly the case in 2013-2014, too. The top ten players against whom Alzner played
last season in 5-on-5 ice time were (source: stats.hockeyanalysis.com):

Claude Giroux

Eric Staal

Jakub Voracek

Marian Gaborik

Evgeni Malkin

James Van Riemsdyk

Alexander Semin

Jaromir Jagr

Phil Kessel

Travis Zajac

Not only does he draw tough assignments, he plays in tough
geography on the ice.Only two Capitals
defenseman had a lower percentage of offensive zone starts last season at
5-on-5 than Alzner (49.8 percent; minimum: 20 games).And no Capitals defenseman in that group had
a better offensive zone finish/start differential (behindthenet.ca).

Cheerless’ Take…

Among 200 defensemen playing at least 500 5-on-5 minutes
last season, Alzner was 74th in goals against/on ice per 20 minutes. He was 162nd in goals-for
percentage on ice.Alzner does not
contribute a lot of offense on his own to push up the goals for percentage
number but the rankings in those two areas are not what the Caps might want out
of the guy they depend on being part of a shutdown pair.

And, there are defensive defensemen, but among 224 defensemen
having played in at least 100 games over the past four years, only 37 have
scored fewer goals per game than Alzner (0.02).Only 11 of 124 defensemen having played in at least 200 games over the
past four years have fewer goals than Alzner (6).

The Big Question… Has Alzner plateaued?

We made mention of Alzner’s consistency over the past four
seasons.Looked at from another angle,
that might be a case of Alzner have reached the ceiling of his play.He is still just 26 years old and entering
what should be the chronological prime of his career.It might be a stretch to think that he will
reveal much more of an offensive game, but the Caps have enough weapons from
the blue line on offense.Alzner is a
player who is counted on to help shut teams down at the other end of the ice.For example, he has been first or second in
average shorthanded ice time per game over the past three seasons.The odd thing about his even strength ice
time is that last season was his lowest average even strength ice time in the
last four seasons, more than a minute less (16:56) then he had in 2012-2013
(18:17).

The Capitals have not been an especially good defensive team
in recent years.In the last three
seasons the Caps have not ranked higher than 18th in scoring defense
and not higher than 16th in penalty killing.The Capitals have to be better in those
rankings, and Alzner, given his role, has to be a significant part of that. If
Alzner has another level as a shutdown defenseman, his growth in that area is
likely to show up in those defensive rankings for the club.

In the end…

No defenseman in the draft class of 2007 has played in more regular
season games than Karl Alzner.Over the
last four seasons he ranks 30th among defensemen in total minutes
played overall, and remember than he gets almost no power play time (only 44:55
combined over the last four seasons).He
is sixth among defensemen 25 or younger in the last four seasons in total minutes
played, the others being Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, P.K. Subban, Erik
Karlsson, and teammate John Carlson.Alzner,
who gets very little recognition outside the friendly confines of Capitals
Nation is quite literally “unsung.”But
he, with John Carlson, have been among the most reliable and consistent
defensemen in the league over the past four seasons.

Constant, dependable, reliable.These have been the hallmarks of Karl Alzner’s
career with the Capitals to date.There
would be worse things than to have him continue to be that constant, dependable, reliable
defenseman.One still hopes, though,
that there is still some growth in his game.Not necessarily at the offensive end, but in being that constant in the
defensive zone who can keep opponents off the scoreboard.

Friday, September 26, 2014

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as
improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

-- Benjamin Franklin

Tom Wilson and the Washington Capitals had a difficult
choice before the start of the 2013-2014 season. Wilson, the 16th overall pick
of the 2012 entry draft after two seasons with the Plymouth Whalers of the
Ontario Hockey League, might have played another season with the Whalers,
played a season or two with the Hershey Bears in the AHL as his introduction to
the pro game, then graduated to the Capitals to start the 2015-2016 season as a
21-year old, physically mature and with maybe 150 games of professional
experience in the regular season and playoffs in the AHL to mature his game.

Nice plan, but for a technicality. Wilson was not eligible
to play for the Bears in 2013-2014. The NHL and the Canadian Hockey League,
which covers all of the major junior leagues in Canada, have an agreement that
CHL prospects must remain in junior hockey until they are 20 years of age or
have played in four full seasons. Wilson, at 19 years of age, was not eligible
to play for the Bears. It was juniors, for his fourth season with the Whalers,
or the Caps. There was no third option.

Wilson might have been sent back to juniors, but he was an
impressive physical player who scored 23 goals and 58 points in 48 games with
the Whalers in 2012-2013. There was little left to prove there, and there might
have been players looking to build a reputation and get some attention from
scouts by trying to take Wilson down a peg or two. Wilson might have been
viewed as too valuable a commodity to be exposed to that. The Caps decided to
keep him in Washington, even if it meant playing fourth line minutes.

Fourth line minutes is precisely what Wilson got, playing
all 82 games and averaging 7:56 a night. Only three forwards playing in at
least 75 games skated fewer total minutes than Wilson (651): Tom Sestito (497
in 77 games), Brian McGrattan (511/76), and Patrick Bordeleau (565/82). None of
them were first round draft picks.

Then again, Wilson’s experience might have been rare, but
not unique. Joe Thornton, a number one overall pick in 1997, averaged just 8:05
in 55 games in his rookie season with Boston. Daniel Briere, a 24th overall
pick in 1996, played 11 minutes a night in his first full season, then played
an average of seven minutes a night the next season and ten the following
season in the NHL while splitting time between the Phoenix Coyotes and the AHL.

All in all, the 2013-2014 rookie season for Wilson was far
more experiential than productive. Even though he was one of only three rookies
to appear in every regular season game (Nathan MacKinnon and Tyler Johnson were
the others), he was tied for 20th among 26 rookies appearing in more than 25
games (the number rendering them ineligible for Calder Trophy qualification in future
years) in goals scored (3), tied for 17th in assists (7), 19th in points, and
25th – next to last – in average time on ice. You could say that he
outperformed his ice time, but it is not the strongest argument.

Fearless’ Take…

In the modern era (post-1967 expansion), Tom Wilson is one
of only 18 rookies playing in at least 50 games who recorded at least ten
points (he had 10) and at least 150 penalty minutes (he had 151). He is one of
only eight players in that group who was a “plus” player (plus-1). And here is
an odd fact. Wilson skated ten minutes or more in 16 games last season. The
Caps were 8-4-4 in those contests. Now perhaps he was stapled to the bench in
close third period games and got more third period time in wins, but still.

Cheerless’ Take…

Since the 2004-2005 lockout, 18 rookies have played in all
82-games of their rookie season. Wilson was 18th in goals (three, compared to
the next lowest total – five – in 2007-2008 by Toby Enstrom…a defenseman), 18th
in assists (10, compared to 20 in 2007-2008 for Torrey Mitchell in 17th place),
18th in points (10, half that of Mitchell), tied for 15th with three other
players (that is, last) in power play goals (one), 18th in shots on goal (63,
compared to 98 in 2007-2008 for Andrew Cogliano one rank higher), tied for 17th
(again, last) in shooting percentage (4.8, with Enstrom), and 18th in minutes
(651, compared to 1120 for Cogliano, the next lowest number). That’s certainly
not all on Wilson, not by a long shot. The Caps spoon fed him ice time and used
one of those baby spoons to boot.

The Big Question… Can Tom Wilson play a bigger role in
2014-2015?

Tom Wilson could have a long and productive career with the
Capitals. He probably projects as a reliable third line option, perhaps even
second line, on the right wing. At the moment, though, he suffers from there
being a bit of a log jam on that side. Even with Alex Ovechkin being moved back
to the left side, there are Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward, and possibly Eric Fehr
ahead of him on the depth chart. Time might solve that problem, since Ward and
Fehr are both on the final year of their current contracts. But for now, Wilson
is still on the bottom rung of the ladder.

It begs the question of whether the Caps should make room
for Wilson my moving one of those ahead him, either to another position (Fehr
played center much of the time last season) or to another team. The difference
this year, though, is that the AHL option is there for Wilson that was not
there last season. There is a certain charm in that possibility in that it
might provide an opportunity for him to develop a working chemistry with Andre
Burakowsky, a prospect of considerable potential who faces an uphill climb to
make the parent club out of training camp this fall and who might benefit from
a full year playing a large role in Hershey.To the extent one believes in the power of pairs, rather than lines (and
I do), it might be the sort of postponed gratification on the way to three
formidable pairs a few years down the line: Ovechkin/Backstrom, Kuznetsov/Vrana,
and Burakovsky/Wilson.

In the end…

Tom Wilson’s first season in the NHL was characterized more
by his willingness to do the dirty work of hockey.Not only did he get fourth line minutes, he
was a frequent pugilist.His 14 fights
was fifth in the league, and his 151 minutes in penalties tied for the 13th highest total for a first year player over the previous 20 seasons.None of the other 13 players were first round
draft picks.

That might be considered part of the apprenticeship Wilson
is performing.Now, it is time to hone
his other skills, those within the rules.To answer “The Big Question,” that will mean he could very well play a
larger role, once he recovers from the ankle injury he suffered over the
summer.The thing is, that role might
very well be played in Hershey.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Last season Joel Ward set career highs in games played (82),
goals (24), assists (25), points (49), power play goals (6), power play assists
(4), shooting percentage (18.0 percent), and tied personal bests in shorthanded
goals (2) and game-winning goals (4). He was in rare company, too. Of all the
players in the league who scored 25 or fewer goals, three had as many as six
power play goals, four game winners, and two shorthanded goals: Antoine
Vermette, Adam Henrique, and Ward.

It was an especially sweet season for Ward who, in the eyes
of some, might have been seen to struggle in his first two seasons in
Washington after signing a four-year, $12 million contract as an unrestricted
free agent in July 2011. His 24 goals
almost doubled his output with the Caps over his first two seasons (14) and
equaled his output over his previous three seasons, including his last year
with the Nashville Predators. His 25
assists surpassed his combined output over his previous two years with the Caps
(24), as did his 49 points (38).

Ward recorded the first hat trick of his career last season,
potting three goals in a 7-0 rout of the Philadelphia Flyers on November
1st. He had two other three-point games,
two goals and an assist in a 6-5 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings on
February 2nd, and a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over the Carolina
Hurricanes on April 10th.

As one might expect, Ward was most effective in winning
efforts, going 16-14-30 in the Caps’ 38 wins.
However, his 9-10-19 scoring line in the Caps’ 44 regulation and extra
time losses was respectable, given that he did not play on a scoring line. The most telling difference between his
performance in wins and losses was that he scored five of his six power play
goals in wins.

Fearless’ Take…

The one thing that held back Ward in his two seasons with
the Caps was a drop-off in production after good starts. In his first two seasons, combined, Ward posted
a scoring line of 10-11-21, plus-14 in his first 20 games (40 overall), a
per-82 game pace of 21-23-44, plus-29.
However, after that, in 72 games covering those two years Ward was
4-13-17, plus 5, a per-82 game pace of 5-15-20, plus-6. Compare that to 2013-2014. In his first 20 games he was effective again,
going 9-4-13, minus-1, a per-82 game pace of 37-16-53, minus-4. In his last 62 games, though, he was
15-21-36, plus-8, a per-82 game pace of 20-28-48, plus-11. It was his ability to avoid that steep
drop-off after his first 20 games that enabled him to record a career year on
offense.

Cheerless’ Take…

Ward is going to be 34 years old in December, and he plays a
pretty rugged style of hockey. He has
been durable, playing in almost 93 percent of the games scheduled over
his six full seasons in the league. Still, he’s getting to that point where the
combination of durability and performance will be something to watch. There are a fair number of forwards since the
2004-2005 lockout who have played in at least 75 games and scored at least 15
goals after reaching the age of 34 (54 in fact), but not many do it more than
once (28 forwards). Of course, he is in
the last year of his contract, too, so he only has to do it once.

The Big Question… Can Joel Ward match, or at least come
close to his career numbers of last season?

The easy thinking here is that Ward will be playing for a
coach with whom he has experience, and he will be working in a system that
either he has grown comfortable with or that has learned to accommodate his
skills (at least on the power play). One
might expect that he will play a role similar to the one he played last season,
right wing on the third line at even strength and in the middle of the power
play when Troy Brouwer is not manning that post.

That Ward could match or approach those career bests he set
last season is certainly possible. It
just might not be the way to bet. Why? His even strength goal total (16) was 33
percent higher than his previous best (12 in 2008-2009). His even strength assist total (21) almost matched
that of the previous two seasons combined (22).
He finished seventh in shooting percentage (18.0 percent) among 287
qualifying forwards, another career best that is substantially higher than his
career mark before last season (9.5 percent). That is quite a spike in performance. Sustainable? We will see.

Then there is the consistency issue. Was last year’s production pace after his
first 20 games a one-off, or is it a sign of later career dependability in his
output?

In the end…

Joel Ward is in a contract year that could make him an attractive signing for the second time in his
career. In 2010-2011 he had a good, if
unspectacular regular season (10-19-29, minus-1 in 80 games). It was his playoff performance that year that
stood out (7-6-13 in 12 games). It
earned him a shot at a lucrative contract in unrestricted free agency that he received
from the Capitals. He might need
something closer to the regular season performance he had last season, one in
which he skated on what was often the best forward line the Caps had, or a big
post-season such as the one he had in his last season in Nashville to catch the
eye of other teams or get consideration from the Capitals to tender an offer.

The pieces are in place for Ward to do just that, but there
are issues, too, or at least things to look for as the season unfolds for
him. Having done a thing well last season, if he does it as well or nearly as well this season he will be rewarded.

Since the Washington Capitals' unveiled their Winter Classic jersey on Tuesday, there has been little agreement on its merits as a hockey fashion statement. There also seems to be little agreement on just what the dominant color is. So far...

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

“Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's
no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It's a struggle for
supremacy, a survival of the fittest.”

-- Ty Cobb

What Ty Cobb said about baseball a century ago can be said
for hockey today. While there is a
privileged place at the table for the player of skill and imagination, there is also a place for the player who struggles and survives.

This explains how it is that a player with fewer than ten
career points in more than 100 career games can have a place in the lineup for
a National Hockey League team. It
explains the Washington Capitals’ Aaron Volpatti.

Aaron Volpatti has played in parts of four NHL seasons,
never appearing in more than half his team’s games in any of them. He appeared in precisely that many games – 41
of 82 – for the Capitals last season. It
was arguably his best season in his still young career. In addition to setting his career high in
games played, he set a career high in goals scored. OK, so two goals is a modest career best, but
they all count, and you have to crawl before you can walk, let alone run.

What makes Volpatti’s presence in the league, not to mention
his modest progress, more interesting is the fact that it was not as if he was
a hot shot amateur who had to re-tool his game for the NHL. He had just 13 goals in 137 games over three
seasons with the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL, followed by 32 goals in 123 games
over four years at Brown University (17 of those goals coming in his senior
season). After signing as a free agent
with the Vancouver Canucks following his senior year at Brown, he played in 61
games over two seasons with the Manitoba Moose and scored just three goals.
Nine amateur seasons, 321 games, 48 goals, more than a third of those in one season.
He was not coming into the NHL as a sniper.

What he was, though, was a scrapper. There were 279 penalty minutes in 137 games
with the Vipers, 236 penalty minutes in 123 games with Brown, then 91 penalty
minutes in 61 games in the AHL. It
didn't stop in Vancouver. In two-plus seasons
with the Canucks, Volpatti managed only three goals in 54 games, but he had 81
penalty minutes, 55 of those minutes coming in 11 fights. This was a player who, when traded to the
Caps in March 2013, took a fighting major on the fourth shift of his first game
with the club. Volpatti was not, and almost certainly will
not, make his living in the NHL be being an offensive threat. He has had to, and almost certainly will have
to, scrap for every minute of ice time he gets.

Fearless’ Take…

The Caps were 22-12-7 in games in which Volpatti played last
season, 16-18-7 in those he did not. In 2012-2013 the Caps were 12-3-2 in games
in which he appeared after arriving in trade from Vancouver. A 34-15-9 record
when he dresses? That’s a 48-21-13 pace
per 82 games (109 points). Some things are hard to explain.

Cheerless’ Take…

So, in your world the sun rises because the rooster crows?
In those 58 games Volpatti had three points and was a minus-5 while averaging
less than eight minutes of ice time.

The Big Question… Is there a roster spot in his future?

There could be something of a log jam on the fourth line for
the Capitals, and Volpatti would appear to be in the mix for it. Jay Beagle,
Chris Brown, Tim Kennedy, Michael Latta, Casey Wellman, and Volpatti. It could
be quite a competition. On the other hand, no one stands out in any particular
way. It presents an opportunity for Volpatti, since he and Kennedy are the left
wingers by position in that mix.

But here is the steep climb Volpatti has. Over the last four seasons, only three forwards
have appeared in as many or more games than Volpatti (112) and have as many or
fewer points (7): John Scott (165 games/3 points), Colton Orr (149/7), and
Volpatti. Even on a fourth line, the
Caps need more production.

In the end…

The Caps are not awash in options at left wing on the fourth
line, which might be the best thing that can be said about Aaron Volpatti’s
chances of being in the opening night lineup.
After four years and 100-plus games, it does not seem likely that he is
going to provide much of a contribution other than a certain brand of
feistiness. That sort of thing has its
place to keep things honest on the ice, but even there, fourth liners do not
generally get assignments that might pit them against higher lines on which
there might be players who need to be reined in.

There is going to be a competition to see just who and in
what combinations dresses for the Caps on the fourth line on a night-in,
night-out basis. Volpatti will be in
that mix, and not being a “mollycoddle” by any means, he will be battling for
that spot.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

It has now been more than ten years since Alex Ovechkin
walked to the stage and pulled on a Washington Capitals jersey for the first
time as the number one overall pick of the 2004 entry draft.Nine NHL seasons (six reaching the
post-season), eight world championship tournaments, two Olympic tournaments,
and the better part of a season in the KHL during the 2012-2013 NHL
lockout.Fromcharismaticpitchmanwhosoldeverything from cars, to TV networks, to candy bars, to banks, to hockey
equipment; to perhaps the most casually dismissed elite goal scorer, certainly of this
era and perhaps in the history of the NHL.It certainly has not been a boring ten years watching the career of Alex
Ovechkin unfold.

But here we are, ten years into what almost certainly will be the most accomplished career in the history of the Washington Capitals, Ovechkin
having won just about every regular season individual honor the NHL awards, and
both he and his fans are still waiting for that elusive team accomplishment, a
Stanley Cup.

Coming off his fifth 50-goal season in 2013-2014, tied for
sixth all time in number of such seasons, Ovechkin received far more press for
posting a minus-35 (and yes, he is the only player in league history to record
at least 50 goals and a minus-35 or worse).Still, he won his fourth Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal
scorer.He was named to the second team
NHL all-star team, the eighth time in nine seasons he was named to the first or
second team (not including being named to both first and second teams in
2012-2013 at right and left wings).For
the fourth time in his career he recorded at least ten game-winning goals (10,
second in the league last season).

Then there was the power play.His 24 power play goals led the league, was
the third time he recorded at least 20 man advantage goals, and were the most
in the NHL since Teemu Selanne had 25 in the 2006-2007 season.In the modern era (post-1967 expansion), only
five players have more 20-power play goal seasons than the three turned in by
Ovechkin to date: Brett Hull (5), Mike Bossy (4), Phil Esposito (4), Tim Kerr
(4), and Luc Robitaille (4).

Fearless’ Take…

One of the hallmarks of Alex Ovechkin’s career to date has
been his consistency.With respect to
Ovechkin’s goal scoring, here is one way to look at that. Only three times last
season did Ovechkin go more than two consecutive games without a goal.His 51 goals were scored over 40 games, those
40 games with at least one goal being more than half the games in which he
played (78).He had points in 48 of the
78 games in which he played.

He remains the straw that stirs the drink.In 36 wins in which he played, Ovechkin had
35 goals (35-19-54).He had 16 of his 24
power play goals in those 36 wins, scoring power play goals in 13 of those
wins.He had 23 percent of the total
goals scored by the Caps last season (51 of 225) but more than a third of the
game-winning goals for the team (10 of 28).

Ovechkin was recently described as “one of the least feared 50 goal
scorers in the history of the game.”
The breathless hyperbole aside, since he entered the league in 2005-2006 he has
more than 100 more goals (422) than the next highest goal scorer over that
period (Jarome Iginla: 310). He has five of the 18 50-goal seasons since the
2004-2005 lockout.Only Sidney Crosby
(5) has more 100-point seasons since the 2004-2005 lockout (4), and while the
last of those was in 2009-2010, consider that since then he has been a bit
hamstrung by coaches who were rookies behind an NHL bench when they took over
(Dale Hunter, Adam Oates) and a season (2012-2013) half lost to another
lockout.

Cheerless’ Take…

Yeah, cuz, about all those goals and points scored in
wins.Thirty-five goals, 54 points, and
a plus-3?He was a minus player in ten
of those 36 wins in which he played.In
42 regulation and extra time losses he was minus-38 and was a minus player in
26 of those games.

While plus-minus is a statistic of limited use to explain
individual performance, it is also true that only 12 of 435 forwards playing in
at least 20 games last season were on ice for more goals per 60 minutes at5-on-5 than Ovechkin.And, he had the 20th worst
plus/minus per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 in that group of forwards.Only five forwards were on ice for more goals
against at 5-on-5 than Ovechkin.While
his linemates bear a certain amount of responsibility for that kind of
performance, no Capital forward ranked lower than Ovechkin in any of those
categories.

That whole plus-minus thing was a particular problem against
Eastern Conference teams that reached the playoffs.In 28 games against those eight teams
Ovechkin had 18 goals, an impressive number.He was also a minus-18, a less impressive one.

The Big Question… Is that all there is?

The consensus question that the hockey media thinks most
important with respect to Ovechkin is whether he and new head coach Barry Trotz
can read from the same page.The
implication is that he and Trotz’ predecessors either did not read from that
same page or that there was some sort of antagonistic relationship between Ovechkin
and those coaches.

That seems to be a simple, and simplistic, conclusion.Except for one in-game comment about a coaching decision, it is hard to find much in the way of commentary
from Ovechkin that undermined his coaches’ authority or that signaled an antagonism
toward those coaches’ approach to the game.One can argue about results – the Caps have not advanced past the second
round of the playoffs in the Ovechkin era – but the term ”coach killer” (a term
that generates no lack of hits in a web search) is reflexive, not the product
of analysis.

It is fair to ask what Ovechkin has done to improve and
round out his game over nine seasons in the NHL.He came into the league as a prolific goal
scorer, and he remains one of the most productive goals scorers in the game.
And, if you are going to have one skill, it would be hard to think of another one you
would rather a player have.However, if
you look at the rest of his game you wonder what it is that has improved over
the course of his career.

This is where Barry Trotz can make a difference, if any
coach can.Ovechkin has played for four
coaches, all of them in their first NHL coaching positions.None had the ability (and in a couple of
cases, showed little inclination) to develop those other skills that would make
Ovechkin a more dangerous all-around player.Trotz has 15 seasons on coaching experience at the NHL level.He has coached a wide variety of players at
that level in terms of style, temperament, and talent.This is a type of coach Ovechkin has not had
in his career.

It is not all on the coach, though.Ovechkin just turned 29 and is in the
chronological prime of his career.That,
and his nine years of experience, implies a certain responsibility on his part
to take the initiative to improve and bring out other aspects of his game.It has not yet been enough in terms of team
success that he be primarily (or exclusively, in the opinion of some) a goal scorer.Even if he remains the most productive goal scorer of his generation, if
that is all there is it would seem unlikely that the Capitals will be any more
successful going forward in Ovechkin’s career than they have been over its
first nine seasons.

In the end…

The whole plus-minus thing with respect to Ovechkin’s game
is a red herring.This is a player who
was a plus-82 over his first eight seasons.The minus-35, while historic, was a convenient hook on which a lot of
hockey media could hang their general disdain for Ovechkin’sstyle on and off the ice.On the other hand, he is the captain, he is
the straw that stirs the drink, and the Caps are not likely to be successful on
any level unless he is happy and productive.

In 2014-2015 he is in a situation in which he has not found
himself in his career, playing for a coach with a long NHL resume.The team around him is more balanced than it
has been in recent memory, with a deeper defense than the club has known in at
least a decade.It is not all on him to
score goals.That makes it an
opportunity for Ovechkin to develop more of his game.Better late than never, because as Virgil
said, “All our sweetest hours fly fastest.”

Saturday, September 20, 2014

At the risk of taking Emerson a bit too literally, it is
probably fitting that Michael Latta wears red in his occupation as a hockey
player.He was not the headline player
in the trade that sent Filip Forsberg to Nashville for Martin Erat, but he is
the player coming from Nashville who remains with the club.

The role he seems likely to play with the Caps is the
epitome of the “energy player.”To the
extent he plays, it will be confined almost entirely to fourth line minutes.He will agitate, disrupt, annoy, aggravate,
and exasperate (434 penalty minutes in 183 career regular season AHL games).He will provoke (37 fights in those 183
career regular season AHL games).

Yes, red seems to be an appropriate color to wear as a
reflection of his spirit.

That said, the extent to which he passes Jay Beagle on the
depth chart as fourth line center is going to hinge at least as much on his
performance numbers.Twice he has posted
14-goal seasons in the AHL, both times doing so in fewer than 55 games.Then again, Jay Beagle had 19 and 16 goal
seasons with Hershey with game totals in each season in the mid 60’s.

Fearless’ Take…

The Caps were 9-6-2 in the 17 games in which Latta played
last year.Records like that aren’t
attributable to the difference making capabilities of a fourth line center, but
he was on ice for only five goals against in those 17 games, too, four at even
strength.He was 52.2 percent on
draws.He was charged with just two
giveaways in 131 minutes of ice time.He
committed only one minor penalty. He was
not what you would call a liability out there.

Cheerless’ Take…

Twice in 17 games he played more than 10 minutes.He averaged less than eight minutes a
game.The Caps were 5-4-2 in games in
which he played over seven minutes.There is just so much a guy playing that little ice time can do to
influence an outcome for the better.

The Big Question… Is Michael Latta a diamond in the rough?

Michael Latta is only 23 years old as he heads into the
upcoming season, so it is still difficult to project just what his upside
is.Just keep in mind that he was taken
in the 2009 draft ahead of Cody Eakin (72nd overall; Eakin was taken
85th), and Caps fans probably still remember Eakin, a prospect
traded with a draft pick for Mike Ribeiro back in June 2012. We cannot say with much conviction that Latta
is going to become the scoring forward that appears to be slotted for in
Dallas, but he might have more upside than Jay Beagle, which is not to
denigrate Beagle.Latta just has not yet
had much playing time, and he seems likely to make a battle out of the fourth
line center position.

In the end…

To us, Michael Latta impresses us in his limited exposure to
date with the Caps as a stockier version of former Capitals forward Matt
Bradley.He does not seem to be the sort
to contribute a lot at the offensive end, but he might pot the occasional
goal.He plays ata high energy level.He is not shy about settling matters on the ice
on his own (two fights in 17 games with the Caps, 11 in 52 games at Hershey
last season).He has not yet revealed
any particular liabilities on defense, although 17 games is not much to go on
in that regard.

Michael Latta is the last remnant of the Forsberg-Erat trade
and the end of a line in the legacy of the selection of Scott Stevens in the
1982 draft (the “Brendan Witt/Filip Forsberg” line in this chart).
Latta represents the last active line in that legacy.Caps fans will be hoping it does not end for
a while yet.

Washington Capitals Training Camp 2014 got underway
yesterday at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, and Day One was the kind of affair that
could not be held to just one squad or just a single rink.Three squads – Blue, White, and Red in that
order – on both the Arlington and Capitals rinks made for a busy day for new
head coach Barry Trotz, his staff, and the 60-odd players invited to
participate.

Before Team Blue kicked off the first session at 9:30,
however, there was goaltenders coach Mitch Korn on the ice with Braden Holtby
and Pheonix Copley going through some drills.Korn started working with Holtby, the first player on the ice for this
year’s camp, going through what looked like puck handling drills that focused
on the goalie’s footwork and body positioning when moving the puck along either
side.

Copley joined in for some work in moving back and forth, up
and down in the crease.Then it was time
for the ol’ medicine ball, one of many props that Korn uses for effect and to
keep things interesting.There were two drills involving this prop. First, the goalies held the ball to their chest while maneuvering back and forth across the crease. Then, while clutching
the medicine ball to their chest, Holtby and Copley started at the goal line at
one wall, then pushed off their skate down the length of the goal line to the
opposite wall.We were sore just watching
them.

As this drill was underway, the skaters took the ice, and if
there was a word to describe them as a group, it would be “business like.”There wasn’t a smile among them, no chatting
as they skated, no joking.If you are
looking for good (if trivial) signs about this team, there’s one.They were down to business from the first
blow of the whistle from Trotz.

Trotz wasted no time in pitting players against one another.Using various combinations – one on one, two
on two, and a series of odd man combinations – he had the players going against
one another in long skate confrontations and in tight space situations starting
in the faceoff circles.Except for the
occasional player sidling up to a coach for a question, the only sounds you
heard on the ice were Trotz’ gravelly shouts and what seems to be a signature
effect, his banging his stick on the ice to get players to step up the pace and
hustle back into line after finishing a rush.

Because you might be wondering, for what it’s worth, watching Brooks Laich do end-to-end
skates in the first half of the morning session, he looked pretty smooth out
there.

Team Blue spent 45 minutes on the Arlington Rink before
heading across the hall to the Capitals rink to complete their session, a
series of end to end long skates to test endurance.There
were a few noteworthy things in that session.Jay Beagle was consistently ahead of his group
from end to end.Alex Ovechkin was, well…
he was not. Dmitry Orlov and Aaron Volpatti wore the yellow (no contact) jerseys in doing the endurance skates.

Then there was Marcus
Johansson.We did not see what happened,
but we did see him face down on the ice in front of the players’ bench, then
get up to considerable distress to take his place on the bench.After some limping around and being bent over
the back of the bench, he headed off to the locker room.

Team White was next up on the Arlington Rink at the 11 o’clock
hour.Trotz took the group through the
same drills, emphasizing player-versus-player contact and a fast pace.And, there was the stick banging.Just like the group the preceded them, there
was not much player-player chattering on the ice.Trotz appears to run a very disciplined, very
ordered ship.Some other things we took
note of in Day One (with pictures).

-- A quiet moment between teacher and pupil before the fun
begins…

-- The captain was the first skater on deck for the morning
session

-- Then there were the footwork drills for the goalies...

...and the medicine ball drills.

Leaving the one-on-one drills to the players.

Not Sidney Crosby (save it for the fantasy piece, Peerless). It's Liam O'Brien, although he is from Nova Scotia, and he did once play for Rimouski.

More one-on-one

New Guy...

Johansson is down. He looked to be in considerable distress once he got to the bench.

Justin Peters in a new setting.

Chris Brown lets fly.

A familiar...number.

Get used to it, Caps fans. That stick banging is going to be in your dreams for a while.

WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

The Washington Capitals ended the 2016-2017 as one of 12 franchises in the NHL never to win a Stanley Cup. Of that group, only the St. Louis Blues (48 seasons), Buffalo Sabres (45 seasons), and Vancouver Canucks (45 seasons) have gone longer never having won a Cup than the Capitals (41 seasons). Six teams came into the league after the Capitals entered the league in 1974-1975 and have won Stanley Cups: Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils (1976-1977), Edmonton Oilers (1979-1980), Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche (1979-1980), Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1979-1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1993), and the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1994).